Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia During the Commencement of Operation of the Makassar-Parepare’s Maros-Barru Railway Line and the Inauguration of Maros Railway Depot in Maros Regency, South Sulawesi Province, March 29, 2023.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Good afternoon,
Peace and prosperity be upon us.

Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen,
Almost in all big islands, in cities, especially the capital, it appears that we are late in building mass transportation, mass transportation, especially late, although it is the most basic way to connect provinces, cities, and regencies. Naturally, we choose the cheapest option. Therefore, it is essential to develop rail transportation.

When I gave the order, we decided to focus on either Kalimantan or Sulawesi. We chose Sulawesi instead. Because otherwise, everyone will drive a private car and no one will want to take mass transportation. Eventually, as we now see, due to the delay in the development of mass transportation, both for passengers and goods, everyone drives private vehicles, resulting in traffic jams in all cities today, not only in Jakarta. Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Surabaya, Semarang, Makassar are all jam-packed, because of our delay in building mass transportation.

In Jakarta, it’s about 30 years late. Even though we now have the MRT, it is only a single line. There is the LRT, but it is also not running yet. So, ladies and gentlemen, if you are in Jakarta, there is a traffic jam in the morning, a traffic jam at midday, a traffic jam in the afternoon, and a traffic jam at night because of the delay in the development.

Therefore, I am very pleased and I appreciate what we have started, the Trans Sulawesi railway line, which later, God willing, we will continue from Makassar to the north, to Manado in North Sulawesi province. Although right now it is just from Makassar to Parepare.

And, now we want to officiate this line from Maros to Barru. So, from Makassar to there, to Parepare. If in the future we have many trains, including those for passengers, those for tourism, and those for goods, this will boost our competitiveness. Our country will benefit because goods are transported by low-cost transportation means and not by others. Nevertheless, this is an option that we can give to the public and to entrepreneurs to use the lines we built.

This concludes my remarks. And, by saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I hereby officiate the operation of Makassar-Parepare’s Maros-Barru Railway Line and Maros Railway Depot.

I thank you.
Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

(FI/MUR)